


Trouble

by nearlywitches



Category: Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-26
Updated: 2014-06-26
Packaged: 2018-02-06 07:45:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1850050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nearlywitches/pseuds/nearlywitches
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reno doesn't ask for trouble, but trouble seems to follow him everywhere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. RUN RABBIT RUN

Reno had never run so fast in his entire life.  
  
He could feel his breath coming in short gasps, his lungs gasping for air as his feet pounded against the ground. Reno was no stranger to running, but he was a sprinter and not a long-distance runner -- the ten minutes that he had been running for were already wreaking havoc with his entire body. His muscles were already beginning to cramp as he steeled himself for the final leg of his journey. Once he reached the top of the hill, he would know he was safe. When he saw the tips of Midgar buildings, only then could he relax and know that he was out of danger for the most part.  
  
The hired goons were catching up to him. He could hear their thundering footsteps getting closer and closer, echoing throughout his ears and mixing with the muffled sounds of his own heartbeat. If he had to, he could fight but that was the last thing he wanted to do. He was too small compared to the two muscular men. He had the advantage of being small and wiry enough to avoid any attacks that came his way but he couldn’t evade them forever. The electro-mag rod that he had stowed messily into the belt-loops of his trousers was virtually useless for anything other than giving his left knee a good solid bruise as it hit against the bone with painful rhythmic precision. His fists would be virtually useless against the man-mountain duo. Rude would have more of a chance, but a quick glance up the rapid incline only solidified the fact that Reno’s partner was a much faster runner.  
  
Boy, would he get so much shit when he was picked up. If he  _survived_  long enough for to be picked up, that was.  
  
He could hear the helicopter blades now. Good old Shinra, always on time when they had to be. It was a welcome sound, the high-powered blades cutting through the air. The dull noise had accompanied the orchestra that seemed to have started up in his head.  _Wub-dub. Crunch-crack. Whoosh-whip._  The warped symphony of a Turk.  
  
The end was in sight now. Mustering up the last of his energy, Reno sprinted up the hill, almost colliding with the heavily-built Rude as he did so. Reno had never been so glad to see his very own man-mountain in his life. At least if the opposition caught them now, they would have a fighting chance. If they failed now, they could try and muscle their way out of the predicament their employers had thrown them headfirst into.  
  
Reno had never been so happy to see the scarlet diamond of the Shinra Electric Power Company in his entire life. Even the chopper’s smooth metal exterior looked more inviting than usual. Working against the current of air that the hovering chopper was creating, Reno and Rude threw themselves into the open interior with one last push of energy. The door was thrown shut almost instantly and Reno supressed a smile. The goons may have had the advantage, but a wiry kid with virtually no physical standing had beaten them. Again.  
  
“Next time,” Reno panted, throwing himself against the floor with a groan as the chopper did a hard break to the left, “someone else can do the running.”


	2. HERE COMES THE FARMER

“Are you going to do  _any_  work today?”  
  
Reno smirked as he pushed against the edge of the desk, sending the base of his chair spinning wildly out of control. It had been a slow day filled with write-ups and protocol revision and the redhead was feeling significantly bored. He pulled himself to a juddering stop before looking up into the fiery eyes of Elena.  
  
It would be a lie if Reno said that he wasn’t one entry of the long list of men that would quite happily sleep with Elena. She was every man’s worst nightmare – commanding, overzealous and oh-so-serious – wrapped up in blonde bombshell packaging. Desperate to prove her worth, she had overstretched her abilities to begin with and had left a training session with a bunch of wary, yet adoring followers. Unfortunately, her ridiculous work ethic made her almost impossible to talk to, never mind charm.  
  
Letting out an exaggerated sigh, Reno picked up a pen and twirled it between his fingers. It looked like the most natural response in the world; next to the straight-backed Elena, Reno’s slumped stance was almost Zen-like. The difference between the two was startling and to the average outsider, it would look as if the stony-faced female was the senior agent in the room. Luckily for him, Reno’s skills in the field outranked Elena’s tenfold.  
  
“Relax,” he sang, dragging out the ‘a’ in a drone that he knew would drive Elena up the wall. “I’ve only got a few write-ups to finish.”  
  
Elena pinched the bridge of her nose before throwing a pointed glare at her colleague. Reno could almost feel the biting lecture coming up to hit him in the face. True, he only had a few pieces of paperwork to complete and file but both he and Elena knew fine well that Rude would pick up Reno’s slack. There was nothing Reno hated more than paperwork and he tried to avoid it at all costs. Most of all, Reno knew that this infuriated Elena and there was nothing that the Turk enjoyed more than winding people up.  
  
“Well we’re a team,” Elena said through gritted teeth, clenching and unclenching her fist, “and we get penalised for anything  _you_  do wrong.”  
  
“I ain’t doing anything wrong yet,” Reno grinned, connecting his pen with a half-completed form. “See, I’ll even fill out this form.”  
  
Reno could feel Rude’s eyes boring into the back of his head. Reno’s partner didn’t use his words often, but he didn’t need to. He was an imposing character and if he wanted to, he could probably have snapped Reno in half with one hand. How he stayed so calm and collected around the god of mischief was a complete mystery to everyone else in the room, never mind how he managed to silently alert Reno to when he was about to go too far.  
  
The soft click of a door opening and closing was the only thing that stopped Reno from continuing, however. A fourth suit joined the scruffy crowd in the office, instantly sobering the mood. Tseng was serious – possibly even more so than Elena – and he commanded respect from everyone. It wasn’t difficult to see why when anyone took a peek at his history within Shinra. Not even Reno dared to cross him, for fear of setting off his temper.  
  
“We are needed,” he murmured, voice almost illegible over the gentle hum of electricity that buzzed around the room. “An urgent case, apparently.”  
  
Reno raised an eyebrow, glancing towards Rude. There were never any urgent cases. Everything was dealt with promptly and most of the espionage work that Shinra’s elite force carried out was planned months in advance. Rufus Shinra wasn’t a man of urgency and as an extension, neither were any sectors of his army.  
  
“Shinra officials are missing,” Tseng offered as way of explanation. “We’ve been asked to look into the issue and resolve it as best we can. I know everyone is tired, but we’ve been requested by Rufus Shinra himself.”  
  
“That means we’re good, right? On the boss-man’s radar and everything like that,” Reno asked curiously, although the sinking feeling in his stomach didn’t match his chipper tone. “We’re  _special_.”  
  
“You could look at it that way,” Tseng replied cautiously, not wanting to encourage Reno too much. “ _Elite operatives_  was the term used, I believe.”  
  
A few scattered grins were shared amongst the three agents in the room. Being a member of the Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department sounded posh, but the amount of recognition that the small group of employees received for their dangerous work was sometimes disheartening. Not even Reno could deny that he felt a little proud in that moment.  
  
“When do we leave?” Elena asked, focusing all of her attention on the group’s leader. “Tomorrow?”  
  
“Now.”


End file.
